1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a refrigerator, and more particularly to a refrigerator having a cabinet manufactured by a blow-molding process.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Generally, a refrigerator is an apparatus for storing various foodstuffs in either a frozen or a refrigerated condition to extend the freshness of the foodstuffs for a long time. Such a refrigerator includes a compressor which circulates a refrigerant by compressing the refrigerant, a condenser for condensing the refrigerant into a liquid phase, and an evaporator for generating a chilled air by evaporating the liquid phase refrigerant.
The refrigerator has a freezing chamber for storing frozen foods such as meats or an ice cream, and a refrigerating chamber for storing foods at a relatively lower temperature. The chilled air generated by the evaporator is blown into the refrigerating and freezing chambers by a fan.
FIG. 1 shows a conventional refrigerator 100. As shown in FIG. 1, refrigerator 100 has a cabinet 110 including a refrigerating chamber 120 which is separated from a freezing chamber 130 by a partition wall 125. Refrigerating chamber 120 is opened/closed by a lower door 140 and freezing chamber 130 is opened/closed by an upper door 150. An evaporator (not shown) is installed at a rear portion of freezing chamber 130 and a compressor (not shown) is installed below refrigerating chamber 120. A condenser (not shown) is disposed between the evaporator and the compressor.
Upper and lower doors 150 and 140 are hinged to one side of a front portion of cabinet 110. In addition, an upper groove 152 into which an upper gasket 170 is installed is formed at an inner periphery surface of upper door 150, and a lower groove 142 into which a lower gasket 160 is installed is formed at an inner periphery surface of lower door 140.
Referring to FIG. 2, cabinet 110 includes an inner cabinet 112 and an outer cabinet 114 which is coupled to inner cabinet 112. An insulation material 116, such as urethane, is filled between inner and outer cabinets 112 and 114. Reference number 162 is a magnet. Magnet 162 is accommodated in upper and lower gaskets 170 and 160, respectively, and attracts the front portion of cabinet 110 when refrigerating chamber 120 or freezing chamber 130 is closed thereby preventing air from flowing into refrigerating chamber 120 or freezing chamber 130.
However, in conventional refrigerator 100, inner and outer cabinets 112 and 114 are coupled to each other after they are separately manufactured, so complicated assembling steps are required for manufacturing cabinet 110. In addition, since refrigerator 100 is manufactured by a metal, it is heavy in weight.
Recently, in order to reduce the weight of the refrigerator and to simplify the assembling steps thereof, the cabinet or door of the refrigerator is manufactured by a blow-molding process. The blow-molding process is a manufacturing technique for integrally molding some elements such as the inner and outer cabinets or the door of the refrigerator by using a plastic material or a synthetic resin.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,306,082 issued to Karlin and U.S. Pat. No. 5,629,745 issued to Ryoji Naito disclose a door for a refrigerator and a cabinet for a television set which are manufactured by the blow-molding process, respectively.
However, if the cabinet of the refrigerator is manufactured by the blow-molding by using a non-magnetic substance, the gasket having a magnet therein cannot adhere to the cabinet. Accordingly, it has been necessary to develop a technique which can make the gasket of the door adhere to the cabinet manufactured by the blow-molding process.